IoT Meets Cars: Security Threats Ahead

The tech and automotive industries are aggressively promoting the connected car, a 4G-enabled vehicle that brings smartphone-like capabilities to personal transportation. Distracted-driving issues aside, the Internet-ready vehicle brings with it a host of security concerns related to the data it will generate.

"There's a myriad of questions that we're going to have to go through on data ownership and disclosure -- the apps that go into the car, who owns the information. I think that's a huge topic," said Judith Bitterli, chief marketing officer for security software firm AVG Technologies, in a phone interview with InformationWeek.

Bitterli recently participated in a discussion panel at the South by Southwest (SXSW) conference in Austin, Texas. Titled "The Car Hacks are Coming -- How the Auto Industry Can Safeguard Connected Cars," the session explored key security and privacy concerns involving Internet-enabled vehicles.

Connected cars may be the ultimate fantasy of the net-savvy but it is an open inivitaion to hackers to meddle with the lives of people on the street - those behind the wheels ( but no more the sole commanders of their vehicle) and those on the street.